On the Mineral Collection of the Throne Crown Prince Mikhail E.Generalov Fersman Mineralogical Museum RAS, Moscow, Mgen@Fmm.Ru

132 New Data on Minerals. М., 2007. Volume 42

IS THIS A REGAL ENGAGEMENT? On the mineral collection of The Throne Crown Prince Mikhail E.Generalov Fersman Mineralogical Museum RAS, Moscow, [email protected]

The collection which was transferred in 1923 from the Museum of the City (St. Petersburg) to the Fersman Mineralogical Museum was collected in the 1870s, during the reign of Alexander II. Initially, it was created for Alexander Alexandrovich, the Crown Prince (future Tsar Alexander III), then was enlarged and completed for Nikolai Alexandrovich (future Tsar Nikolai II) and likely used in his education. The contents of the collection, the geographical distribution of its samples, and principles of their systematization enable us to reconstruct the state of mining and the level of Russian mineralogy in the middle of the nineteenth century. 6 photos.

The course of Russian history resulted in the Koni, A.A. Blok, A.V. Lunacharskii delivered mineral and rock specimens that formerly lectures here and attended them. The Museum belonged to the Royal family to land in the ample was lead by L.A. Il'in, the Leningrad Chief collection of the Fersman Mineralogical Mu - Architect. seum. The handwritten catalogue that was acces- In 1928, the Museum of the City began to be sioned together with them added substantially to dismembered. The historical interiors of the their value; it was titled "A Catalogue of the Royal Apartments were removed. The libraries of Mineral Collection Belonging to the Throne Nikolai II and widowed empress were moved to Crown Prince". Moscow to the Lenin Library. An important part The transfer of these materials to the of the collection was sold abroad, including a Mineralogical Museum in 1923 from the number of unique exhibits. Eventually, the Museum of the City was recorded thus by entry Museum was closed in 1935 to be replaced by No 1682: "The Museum of the City , former the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers. Some of its Anichkov Palace. Collected in 1890 by Nefed'ev, exhibits were preserved in the collection of the mining engineer, in the Mining Institute for State Museum of St. Petersburg History. Nikolai II, former Crown Prince". But who was that mining engineer, What was the Museum of the City ? It was Nefed'ev? There is a signature at the end of the established on 4 October 1918 by a decree of the Catalogue made by the same hand as the text People's Commissariat of Education signed by (likely by the hand of a clerk): "Full Counselor of A.V. Lunacharskii, and was based upon the State" and the personal signature "V. Nefed'ev". exhibits of the City Board Museum, subsequent- The mention of the Mining Institute in the ly incorporating Old Petersburg's Museum as Entries Book indicates that this would have been well.. The Anichkov Palace's historical interiors, Vasilii Vasilievich Nefed'ev. where the main part of exhibition was placed, V.V. Nefed'ev was born in 1796 as elder son were of their own special value. The Royal of an artisan of the St. Petersburg Mint. He Apartments of Alexander III and Maria Feodo- began work at the same mint in 1811 as an assay- rovna were here; they lived in the Anichkov ing apprentice and a year later was shifted to The Palace from 1866. Nikolai II spent his childhood Mining Cadet Corps (now the St. Petersburg and juvenile years here too. State Mining Institute). Here, he was learning The Museum of the City was an outstanding and then teaching mineralogy and petrography. scientific and educational center devoted not From 1825 to 1849 he was inspector of the muse- only to the city upon the Neva River but to the um of the Mining Cadet Corps and Institute of way of life and architecture of a "city in general" Mining Engineers' Corps (the names of the and its urban culture. The Museum of the City Mining Institute in 1834–1866). was a place for personal contacts between archi- In 1871, The Concise Catalogue of the tects, artists, and scientists. A.M. Gor'kii, A.F. Mineralogical Collection of the Mining Institute Is this a Regal Engagement? On the Mineral Collection of "The Throne Crown Prince" 133

"Alphabetical index of minerals", "Catalogue of mineralogical collection", " crystalline minerals", " rocks", "the scale to determine mineral hardness", "the list of minerals for replenishing collection", (with other handwriting) "and ores presented to Nikolai Alexandrovich, the Crown Prince and Grand Duke". In the Catalogue text, the headline of the sixth section appears as "The list of minerals for replenishing the collection of His Highness the Crown Prince and Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich". Therefore, the collection was designated not for Nikolai the Crown Prince at all but for the future Emperor Alexander III at that time when he was the Crown Prince, the heir to the throne (1865–1881). Evidently, this collection was also used during the education of his son Nikolai Alexandrovich, future Emperor Nikolai II. The Collection handwritten catalogue and some of specimens registered in it. initial eight years of his education were dedicat- ed to the gymnasium courses where the tradi- Museum was published in St. Petersburg; it was tional, for gymnasium, ancient languages were compiled by Colonel Nefed'ev. "Colonel" is not replaced with the basics of natural sciences astonishing as the Mining Institute is notable for including mineralogy. The collection was surely its militarization from 1834 up to this time; the appropriate, too, in the "course of higher sci- entire mining corps was a paramilitary organiza- ences" when Academician N.N. Beketov lec- tion in Russia, and colonelcy (Berghauptman in tured in 1887–1889 as a Chemistry course for mining) corresponded to VI Class of the Table of the Crown Prince. Ranks – the title of collegiate councilor. In 1875, So the collection began not in the 90s but in Vasilii Vasilievich Nefed'ev (already Professor) the second half of the 1870s. The mineralogical became an honorary member of the Imperial collection was evidently made up not earlier Mineralogical Society. than in 1872, which can be concluded from the However, he could not, regardless, have presence of nefed'evite in the list. This earthy sil- made up a collection for Nikolai the Crown icate of pinkish color was described in 1872 by Prince in 1890 (as recorded in the book of entries P.A. Puzyrevskii, Prof. of Mineralogy at in the Mineralogical Museum). Vasilii Vasi- St. Petersburg University, in the paper "Nefed'e - lievich past away in 1879, at a declining age of 83. vite, a new mineral from Nerchinskii Krai" It is obvious that Nefed'ev has reached the ("Proceedings of the Imperial Mineralogical highest class rank of full Councilor of State Society"). It was named in honor of (Major General in military hierarchy) to the late V.V. Nefed'ev. Nefed'evite was later identified 70s. It was the highest rank of an official. These as a montmorillonite variety and discredited as a officials had to be confirmed by the Emperor per- distinct mineral species. sonally and occupied important appointments in Now let us observe the composition of the the State. There was no trace of any other State collection as reflected in its catalogue. In the councilor V. Nefed'ev who could have assem- mineralogical section, 593 specimens have been bled a collection in 1890. recorded divided into 136 "mineral species". To determine time of formation of the collec- Here is the list of these "species" in accordance tion let us scrutinize the structure and contents with modern terminology: of the catalogue. graphite, native sulfur, rock salt, heavy spar In the Table of Contents, the following sec- (barite), celestine, witherite, strontianite, gyp- tions are mentioned: sum, limespar (calcite), aragonite, dolomite, 134 New Data on Minerals. М., 2007. Volume 42

ical elements in the tradition of the Cronstedt's systematics published in 1758. This form of systematics was applied, in particular, to the "Mineralogy Manual" (1832) by D.I. Sokolov, Prof. of St. Petersburg University and Mining Institute. At the moment of formation of the collection, this systematization was already outdated after the classification of minerals by the type of anion complexes by J. Berzelius (1816), its improve- ment by K. Rammelsberg in 1841–1847, and taking the latter as a basis, in "The System of

Nefed'evit (montmorillonite). Jar’s diameter 7 cm. Transbai- Mineralogy" by J. Dana in 1850. Some relics and kalia. FMM No 14087. Photo: Michael Leybov earlier classifications that had existed until the apatite, talcapatite (chlorapatite), fluor spar, middle of the eighteenth century being based boracite, corundum, diaspore, gypsite upon physical properties of minerals can be rec- (hydrargillite), alum, lazulite (blue spar), ognized at places in the register. For example, turquoise (callaite), wavellite, cryolite, mon- the minerals of laminar structure (which is azite, rock crystal, amethyst, chalcedony, car- reflected in their names) are united: xanthophyl- nelian, agate, jasper, opal, apophyllite, talc, lite (brittle mica clintonite), pyrophyllite, and soapstone, serpentine, schillerspar (diallage), thermophyllite (antigorite). chlorite (ripidolite), wollastonite, xanthophyl- The minerals are often grouped in the cat- lite, pyrophyllite, thermophyllite (antigorite), alogue in the same way as in Sokolov's amphibole (hornblende), nephrite, glinkite "Manual"; however, some groups were (olivine), porcelain clay, stilbite, staurolite, replaced, which is probably due to the discov- feldspar, Labradorite, perlite, wernerite (scapo- ery of the Periodic Law by D.I. Mendeleev (late lite), glaucolite (var. of scapolite), obsidian 1868 early 1869). For instance, one can discern (volcanic glass), steingelite , garnet (venisa) the group of minerals of the alkaline earth sub- idocrase, orthite (allanite), mica, tourmaline group of the second main group of the Periodic (schorl), axinite, topaz, sodalite, lazur stone, System (barite, celestine, witherite, strontian- cancrinite, emerald, aquamarine, phenacite, ite, gypsum, calcite, aragonite, dolomite, chrysoberyl, zircon, gadolinite, rutile, sphene, apatite…), then the minerals of aluminum (third perovskite, tantalite, mengite (monazite or group), silica, titanium, zirconium (fourth columbite), samarskite, aeschynite, group), niobium and tantalum (fifth group), pyrochlore, scheelite, wolfram, molybdenite, chrome (volkonscoite), molybdenum and tung- volkonscoite, grey antimony ore, native sten (sixth group). Having taken this into arsenic, magnetic ironstone, iron glance, account, one can identify those minerals that ilmenite, chrome ironstone, brown ironstone, are under outdated names. For example, men- spar ironstone, vivianite, sulfurkies (pyrite), gite, as being in one company with tantalite, arsenkies (arsenopyrite), pyrolusite, mangan- samarskite, aeschynite and pyrochlore, is evi- ite, rhodonite (orlets), zinc spar, galmei (smith- dently a variety of columbite, though the name sonite), zinc blende, acicular ore, cobalt, bis- "mengite" could have referred to monazite too. muth, nickel, tinstone, red lead, white lead ore, The diversity of ore minerals of iron, man- lead vitriol, pyromorphite, red lead ore, lead ganese, lead, zinc, copper, and silver, particular- glance, tellurous lead, native copper, red cop- ly from Russian deposits, emphasizes the practi- per ore, malachite, chessilite, brochantite, cal selectivity of the entire set. The group of libethenite, knufite (volborthite), fisherite, organic substances described as minerals is list- aurichalcite, dioptase, copperkies, peacock ed together. Mellite, a salt of an organic acid, is ore, cinnabar, silver, glass silver ore, hornsilver juxtaposed with them. It is clear that solid com- (silver chloride), altaite, gold, platinum, mel- bustible minerals were at that time an important lite, anthracite, coal, asphalt, amber. natural resources of Russia. One can discern in this list some signs of min- It is interesting that about ten specimens of eral systematization by the main groups of chem- gold were in the collection whereas a single one Is this a Regal Engagement? On the Mineral Collection of "The Throne Crown Prince" 135 of platinum (from Brazil) was available, though stan, and Turkmenia. Russia was a leader in platinum mining in the The American continents are only represent- nineteenth century. ed with specimens from South America (Brazil, In the catalogue section "The list of miner- Peru, Chile). als for replenishing collection of His Highness One specimen, topazes from "New Holland", the Crown Prince and Grand Duke Alexander evidently came from Australia, it having born Alexandrovich", 80 specimens are recorded. this name on the maps before 1824. Their sequence resembles the "species" order In the collection of the Fersman in the "Catalogue of the mineralogical collec- Mineralogical museum, authors determined 190 tion" (graphite, then Ca and Ba minerals, Al specimens from the "Catalogue of mineralogical (corundum), Si (quartz and silicates), then ores collection". The main part of this collection has of iron, manganese, lead, copper, silver, and, been registered in 1925–1934. These years were nearer to the end, mellite and coals. This con- very difficult in Russian History. During more firms the existence of a unified systematics uti- than forty years between the time of its assembly lized to make up the collection. It is notable and the time of its transfer to the Fersman that this part of the catalogue was signed not Mineralogical Museum the number of speci- by Nefed'ev but "Vice Director of the Office" mens probably diminished appreciably. Besides, Major General Vasil'kovskii. This set was pos- several similar specimens from the Crown sibly made up after 1879. Prince's collection were often recorded under It is interesting to trace the relations between the same museum number. "species" and "varieties" in the catalogue. On The mineralogical specimens (those that are one side, rock crystal, amethyst, chalcedony, in the Mineralogical Museum collection) are, as carnelian and agate, identical in composition, as a rule, of small sizes, from 5 to 12 cm. Only few of well as emerald and aquamarine, are "species". the display specimens exceed 20 cm. Friable On the other hand, quite different minerals are minerals are placed into uniform glass jars shut often written as one "species". For example, the with stiff paper bearing a label written on it. species "stilbite" included, together with various Some substances are stored in small glass test zeolites (stilbite, laumontite, chabazite, harmo- tubes. tome, heulandite, natrolite etc.), also prehnite, In the catalogue of rocks, 200 specimens kyanite, and its variety recitite. "Dioptase" have been recorded; however, their localities included also atacamite, "slaggy copper green", were indicated in some individual cases only. "vitreous copper ore", "copper black", and even Locality references are not indicated at all in planerite. the section "The catalogue of crystalline miner- Some boundary fuzziness between mineral als" where 134 specimens are recorded. Mostly and rocks is seen. Such names as "jasper", "ser- the same names are present here as in "The cata- pentine", "rock salt", "limestone", "opal", logue of mineralogical collection". Only "brown "anthracite" etc. are present both in the catalogue of minerals and the catalogue of rocks. Amethyst with pyrite, 14 cm. Bohemia (Czechia). FMM No The specimen geography of the "Catalogue of 27181. Photo: Michael Leybov mineralogical collection" is also revealing. Of course, most specimens represent traditional mining regions of Russia – Karelia, the Urals, Altai, Transbaikalia. Some specimens from Kamchatka and Yakutia are found in the collection. The European localities are widely represented. According to today's political geography, the list of European states represented in the collection appears as Austria, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Sweden. As to Asia, it is represented with Iran (Persia). There are specimens from Azerbaijan, Kazakh- 136 New Data on Minerals. М., 2007. Volume 42

either did not enter into the Mineralogical Museum or were not recorded for reasons of having no value for the Museum collection. A sheet of paper is inserted in the catalogue with a detailed description of pieces delivered to the Crown Prince Nikolai. Particularly, there is mentioned: "By the certification of Managing Director of the, Altaiskii Mining District, 21 May 1891, No. 452, the mentioned three pieces, after testing at the Zmeyevskii plant assay lab, showed metal content: No.1, found near the land of Siberian Cossack Troops between the Shul'binsrii and P'anoyarskii Baryte, 12 cm. England. FMM No 33859. Photo: Michael Leybov outposts, in 3 versts from the first and 12 versts from the second, in 1 pud ore – 5 funt copper . iron ore" looks strange in the list; however, its No. 2, found near Altaiskii Mining District proximity to "sulfur kies" inspires the supposi- of administration of His Imperial Majesty tion that this was a pseudomorph of iron hydrox- Cabinet, in 3 versts to the South from the ides after pyrite crystals. In the collection of crys- 1 VerkhUbinskii outpost – 3 /2 funt copper in a tals of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, 27 pud of ore. specimens were recorded that came from the No. 3, found in the same area, in 3 verst to the Museum of the City . Some of them retained South from the VerkhFleiskii outpost, in a pud of sticker numbers that correspond to the numbers 3 1 ore /4 zolotnik silver and 3 /2 funt copper". of the "Catalogue of crystalline minerals". These These materials are obviously connected stickers are not handwritten unlike the ones of with the Crown Prince Nikolai's journey in the mineralogical set but made typographically. 1890–1891. On his way back to Petersburg, he This set was obviously created independently stayed on 14 to 16 July 1891 at Omsk, where he from the "mineralogical collection". The speci- probably took interest in the new findings of mens from the crystal set that are available in the ores in Altai. Without such an interest, the dis- Mineralogical Museum funds are small, some of coverer of new occurrences could hardly go to them less than 5 mm; however, they are often the Capital to hand the pieces to the Crown quite regular crystals, such as those of pyrite or Prince. galena. However, there is no doubt of Nikolai's "The scale for determining hardness", the interest for minerals during this journey. A indispensible tool for mineralogical work, corre- specimen is preserved in the Mineralogical sponds to the scale developed by F. Mohs in Museum, which he brought from Japan where 1824. In the sample list for hardness 2, rock salt he was from 15 April to 11 May 1891. This is a together with gypsum looks unusual. piece of brownish chalcedony with a label At the end of the list of "minerals for replen- applied with the stone name, likely local one, ishing collection…", a postscript was made by a Crocoite, 6 cm. Urals. FMM No 37313. Photo: Michael Leybov different hand: "Specimens of copper ore taken by Nikolai Serebryakov, the retired sergeant of Siberian Cossack Troops, Omskaya Cossack vil- lage, and presented by him on 19 September 1891 to His Imperial Highness the Throne Crown Prince and Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich". Further, the two specimens of copper ore and one of the "silverfishcopper" are specified. The erroneous conclusion as to the formation time and initial owner of collection was made, obviously, from this postscript. As to the collection of rocks, scale of hardness, and specimens from additional lists, they 1 zolotnik = 4.26 gramm; 1 funt = 409.5 gramm; 1 pud = 16.38 kg; 1 versta = 1.06 km